PLANS for a new deep-sea port at Techobanine, south of the Mozambique capital Maputo, a rail connection to the port and associated upgrading of connecting 1067mm-gauge lines to Botswana and Zimbabwe totalling 1700km are starting to make progress.
President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi of Mozambique, together with his Zimbabwe and Botswana counterparts, Dr E D Mnangagwa and Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi (pictured above), witnessed the signing of an expression of interest in July to work with the African Development Bank (AFDB) to finance a feasibility study for the $US 6.5bn project.
The three national railways met on July 31 to discuss the rail project. During the meeting, it was agreed to rehabilitate the 447km line linking Chicualacuala on the Mozambique/Zimbabwe border and Dabuka yard south of Gweru in Zimbabwe at an estimated cost of $US 9.9m. Mozambique will fund the lion’s share of the project, contributing $US 7.7m, with Zimbabwe funding the remaining $US 2.2m.
The project to build the new port was put forward in 2011. A memorandum of understanding between the three countries to take the project forward was signed in 2016 and updated in 2022.
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